Model ID: 95966b9a-659a-4deb-9706-ad384bb7564a
Sitecore Context Id: 95966b9a-659a-4deb-9706-ad384bb7564a;
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), NTUC LearningHub (LHUB) and Devan Nair Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), in partnership with the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council, organised the inaugural U SAFE Award today for unionised companies and individuals who have contributed towards achieving excellence in workplace safety and health.
Through this award, the Labour Movement hopes to encourage more organisations to take on initiatives in heightening the importance of workplace safety and health practices within the organisation, and empowering workers with the skills and knowledge to initiate and implement good practices in their areas of work.
At the award ceremony, Guest-of-Honour Mr Chan Chun Sing, Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC, presented five individual Star Awards and eight corporate Sparks Awards at a ceremony held at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability in conjunction with the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April 2015.
According to the Workplace Safety and Health Institute’s statistics, workplace fatal injuries here increased from 25 cases in January – June 2013 to 30 cases for the same period in 2014. There was also an increase in workplace minor injuries of 14 per cent in January – June 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. With workplace injuries on the rise, there is a need to emphasise the importance of workplace safety to all levels – from individual worker to top managements.
“Good workplace practices require continuous efforts. Every stakeholder has to play their part to eliminate risk, nurture a culture that generates new ideas and redefine current practices for a safer and healthier workplace. We also want to recognise unsung heroes who have worked hard to put in place good practices”, says Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of WSH Secretariat at NTUC.
Star Award winner Mr Goh Lai Leong is an example of how small efforts can help make a difference. Mr Goh has been working at Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd as Operations Manager for the past five years and has attended a series of workplace safety-related courses. Realising the need to improve the health of cleaners, whose average age range between 50 and 55 years old, Mr Goh initiated a pilot health programme, which helped more than 160 cleaners working in Singapore Polytechnic receive basic screenings such as Musculoskeletal Assessment, Injury Prevention and Muscle Strengthening, Chronic Disease Management, and CHAS Awareness and Sign-up. At the same time, Mr Goh worked closely with his supervisors on the ground to plan out the manpower allocation so as to ensure that cleaners are able to participate in the programme without compromises to operations.
At the corporate level, organisations can increase WSH awareness through company-wide activities. MediaCorp, one of the Sparks Award winners, has resonated strong emphasis on WSH within the organisation with WSH training courses scheduled and organised regularly. A WSH roadshow themed, “A Hearty Spine, Mighty Heart and Healthy You”, was organised and staff were invited to participate in health talks and exercises for the day. To ensure sustained advocacy, a WSH portal was launched in 2013 to remind and educate staff on good practices, and to report on workplace-related incidents for swift action by the management.
Capability building is also an important WSH component for workers to equip themselves with the right skills to administer good safety and health practices. LHUB, the Labour Movement’s training arm, played an important role by providing workplace safety and health courses to individuals and corporate organisations. Since the launch of WSH courses in 2005, LHUB has successfully trained over one million individuals such as Mr Goh and 5,000 organisations in a wide range of training for the rank and file to supervisory, managerial and WSH Professionals.
###
